Necessity of Scripture

Maybe it's because I haven't done this for a while, but I can't find anything to say about this chapter that will open up a good discussion. I'll have to rely on you, then, and in the meantime jot down a few thoughts that I thought while reading. Mostly they were things I'd already realised or decided, but it's been helpful to bring all my thoughts on the subject together and remind myself how important the Bible is!

I liked the argument that we can't know any fact with certainty unless we know every fact. For example, I may 'know' that Paris is the capital of France, but I can't know with certainty that there isn't a piece of information out there somewhere which will disprove it. It may be that everyone I've spoken to has either been lying or lied to. Unless I know every piece of information in the universe, I can't remove that possibility. That means that in this life I will never be absolutely certain that E equals mc squared, that England won the World Cup in '66 or that dogs have four legs - there may be some fact out there that proves these things wrong. Of course, since God does know every fact he can be certain about everything he knows and, since he does not lie, we can be absolutely certain about everything he says.

Even our knowledge of theology can be uncertain. I was thinking recently about limited atonement - apparently one of the central doctrines of the Reformation. I couldn't defend it from Scripture (a combination of not being as versed in Scripture as I could be, and not really knowing what limited atonement means!) so was wondering whether or not I should believe it. I came to the conclusion that I should believe it but in the same way that I believe Paris is the capital of France - because smart people who have thought about it tell me so. Because I haven't seen a proof of it from the Bible I don't, at this point, believe it with absolute certainty as I believe that Jesus is God. I believe that there is one, and hope to find it (perhaps through reading this book) but until then I am content to believe without being certain.

What else? There was a helpful reminder that Old Testament believers trusted in the Messiah who hadn't come yet for the same reason we trust in the Messiah who has already come - because of the word of God.

There are things that we can know without the Bible. We know that God exists and that he is powerful, and we know that he has moral requirements for our lives. We know our sin is wrong and we even know that the punishment is death (Romans 1:32). What is tragic is that in our sinfulness we each suppress these truths and harden our consciences. In fact (and I may get unpopular here) it seems that we know enough from the world around us to condemn us for not living up to what we know, but we don't know enough to save us unless we hear the gospel message from the Bible. Evangelism and missions are so important because men and women have no chance of correctly interpreting what they know from creation unless they see it in light of the certain revelation we have from God in the Bible, so can never come to saving faith without someone going and telling them what God says.

Invited to dinner...

Over at the girltalk blog we've been invited to dinner at the Mahaney's and their daughters' (metaphorically, of course!). Over the last four days the four families have been detailing some of their meal time habits and it's been great reading. I particularly liked the first - largely, I think, because it's incredibly cute - but all of them are great.

Since we are at the Kitchen Table, and since meal times together are a great part of the day (when I'm not ruining it by being in London!) I thought I'd share what I've gained from reading along.

PS. I'm thinking I may have a chance to get back into Systematic Theology over the weekend. I'm looking forward to starting again, but I've fallen out of the habit and it may take me a while to work out what I'm doing again. Race ya!

For the two of you

Over at The Rebelution, Alex and Brett Harris have just finished a survey of around 1000 Christian guys on what forms of clothing are most/least helpful in our fight for sexual purity. It was requested by Christian girls and has always been based on grace rather than legalism but to ensure it is published and received in the right spirit they're asking Christian guys (12+ so you're both in!) to sign a petition affirming seven things about the way we want women to approach modesty. They're doing a lot of great work over there, and if you want to join them I thought I'd give you the chance...

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!